A Couple of Digital Consumer Travel Trends to Keep an Eye on in 2011

Bo Morris, Florida

Living in Florida definitely has its perks: we’re a peninsula lined with 1,200 miles of white sand beaches, boast an average temperature of around 75 degrees and for good measure have space shuttle launches and world class amusement parks in our backyard. And despite our occasional dominance of the national news cycle with stories about flawed voting machines during presidential elections or crazed pastors threatening to burn copies of the Quran, we are generally proud to claim that “we live where people vacation.” Lots of people in fact. More than 80 million people visited Orlando alone last year making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Located smack dab in the middle of this tourism Mecca, the Edelman Orlando office keeps a close eye on trends within the travel/tourism/hospitality industries. This is both because we work on a handful of these accounts on a daily basis, and as marketing professionals we have a passion for staying on top of emerging trends in those industries.  So to no surprise, when the opportunity arose to pick the brain of Rob Torres, managing director in the travel division at Google (and Executive Committee member for HSMAI, an Edelman Southeast client), about digital trends in the travel and hospitality realms we jumped at it. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

There are two consumer trends, in particular, that should continue to be significant in 2011.

 First, consumers are researching travel across digital platforms with greater intensity than ever before. Over the last three years, Google has conducted studies with third party vendors that demonstrate continued growth in:

• The amount of travelers using the internet as a planning tool (84 percent in 2010)
• The importance of search in travel planning (search is now the top tool used by consumers shopping for travel)
• The amount of research sessions completed prior to travel (from an average of 8 sessions in 2008 to 9.5 sessions in 2010)
• The visits to travel-related sites across the internet (from an average of 18.5 in 2008 to 21.9 in 2010)

Second, with consumers becoming increasingly savvy about researching their travel prior to purchase, proving ‘value’ is going to be even more important in 2011. While there has been significant increases in queries that include the words ‘deals,’ ‘discounts,’ and ‘package,’ the concept of value is not limited to just a dollar savings for the consumer.  In fact, there are plenty of consumers who are willing to spend the same or more as they have in the past---as long as they can receive a guaranteed positive travel experience.  Loyalty programs, custom or special offerings, and enticing experiences are all driving consumers to purchase at pre-2008 rates because the perceived value is higher than other 2010 offerings.

 Rob’s insights have already proven very helpful at Edelman Orlando as our client marketing objectives begin to focus on 2011.  On a “glocal” level, it also really puts into perspective the importance of the digital landscape in travel planning. Especially since the quality of life for us Floridians is so dependent on the millions of tourists that visit the sunshine state each year.